


dearly beloved we are gathered here today to witness the mutual pining of two lovestruck idiots pretending to be married

by icantcountthereasonsishouldstay



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, annie deserves a good mother figure, bed sharing and mutual requited pining are two of my fave tropes and this fic has both, will update character tags as they are mentioned or appear, yet another family day fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-04-08 07:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14100138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icantcountthereasonsishouldstay/pseuds/icantcountthereasonsishouldstay
Summary: Jeff needs Annie to pretend to be his wife for a few days. They both secretly have feelings for each other. This is going exactly where you think it is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Jeff/Annie for - 6 or 14 or 16 (or all three if you're really up for it/want to!!) requested by @harryspaceshipmchale
> 
> #6 for the first line of a fic prompt: “Explain it to me again - why do we need to pretend to be married?”

“Explain it to me again -  _ why _ do we need to pretend to be married?” Annie asked, raising an eyebrow. When Annie had walked into the study room to finalize the Family Day plans, getting ambushed by Jeff “proposing” to her was the last thing she thought would happen. Not that she wouldn’t mind being married to Jeff, but she knew this was leading somewhere bad.

“Because I told my mom that I’d met someone and that we’d gotten married,” Jeff quickly re-explained.

“You gonna help me or not?” Jeff was nearing desperation at this point. His mom would be there in 6 hours, and he  _ really  _ needed Annie to agree.

“Why me? Does it have to be me? Family Day already sucks for me, Jeff. And besides, I have so much planning to do,  _ and  _ I have to do damage control to make sure the Dean doesn’t destroy anything. Can’t you ask Britta? Or Shirley?”

“Britta, who literally said yesterday that ‘marriage is a sham made up by men to control women and treat them as objects’ or Shirley who always goes on about the sanctity of marriage and about how lying is a sin? And would it really be that bad if the Dean destroyed the school? I’d get paid leave, classes would be cancelled, and we wouldn’t have to see Chang or the Dean for a while. Come on, Annie. My mom will love you and treat you like the daughter she always wanted. Please?”

Annie hesitated, but eventually asked, “How did you even get away with this lie? Wouldn’t your mom have come to your wedding? And how has she not visited you since then? And didn’t she ask for pictures?” Annie asked, pointing at him, accusingly.

“Well, I, uh, kinda had Abed photoshop some pictures? And maybe edit some videos?”

Annie’s eyes grew wide with realization.

“Wait, is that why he wrote a wedding movie and asked me to be in it? Oh my god, Jeff!” Annie said, slapping his shoulder. “That’s so sneaky! I knew that script was weird, but I thought it was just Abed being Abed. But you never answered why you did it, and why she wouldn’t have been at the wedding.”

Jeff hesitated, showing sincerity that Annie rarely saw from him.

“Awhile ago, my mom, uh, she got sick. Cancer. She was terrified of leaving me alone and was focusing on that instead of getting better and her recovery, so I told her I’d found someone, and we’d had a small ceremony at a courthouse. I said that we kept it secret because we hadn’t dated for that long and that we knew people would judge our relationship,” Jeff stammered out. After taking a breath he continued.

“I know it was shitty, but I honestly thought she was gonna die, and I wanted her to think I’d be okay without her. Please, Annie. She’s in remission now, but it could come back. I’ll give you whatever you want if you do this.”

“Oh, Jeff, I’m so sorry. I’ll help you this time, but you’ll have to come clean at some point, okay? It’s not fair to your mom. How long would this last?”

“ Five days. I know I need to tell her, but I can’t disappoint her yet. She’s so excited for Family Day and meeting my wife. Thank you, Annie. I owe you one.”

“Okay, if we’re gonna pretend to be married, we need to set our stories straight,” Annie said, pulling out a notebook. “Do we live together? Or do we still live separately? Do I wear a ring? Do I even have a ring? Have we told our friends yet? Where exactly did we get married? When did we get married? I’m assuming the dress I wore in Abed’s video is the one she saw, as well as the flowers. Was anyone else there?”

“Yes, we live together, you have a ring but you wear it on a chain around your neck so you can hide it, we’ve told Abed, which means Troy and Britta know, but that’s it, the court house on Main Street, May 15th, yes it is, Abed was there to record the video. Does that answer everything?”

“Yes, I think-Oh, wait. Did we go on a honeymoon?”

“Yes, we spent a week in the mountains in a cabin.”

“Wow, you’ve actually put thought into this. Usually, you come up with your lies on the fly.”

“It’s my mom. I can’t disappoint her.”

“Aww, it’s so sweet how much you love her. Okay, so if we live together, I need to move some stuff there to make it look like I live there, and I need a ring. Do you have one, or do we need to find one? Also, how affectionate should we be around your mom?”

“I have one actually. My mom gave me my grandmother’s ring. It’s a tradition to pass it down. And as affectionate as you’re comfortable with. We can always say we’re private about our affection due to having to keep it hidden. Also…um, my mom is staying with me. The entire time. So, would you mind staying with me as well? Just to sell the lie!” Jeff, said, almost yelling the last part. Yeah, he was totally into Annie, and as much as he told himself he was only doing this to sell the lie to his mom, he knew there was more to it than that. That made him feel almost as guilty as lying to his mom, but the fear of disappointing his mom and the excitement of spending time with Annie pretending to be married outweighed the guilt.

Annie paused, considering this. Could she really handle spending five days pretending to be Jeff’s wife while she was in love with him? Logically, she knew this was the closest she’d ever get to actually being with him, but that would make it worse when it ended. She should say no, but this was an amazing opportunity and she’d like someone to treat her like family for once, even if it was a woman they were lying to.

“Okay, I’ll do it. But no funny business, mister! Or I’ll stage a fight and make you sleep on the couch!”

Jeff held up his hands in mock surrender.

“Whatever you want, wife,” Jeff said, ignoring how good it felt to call her his wife.

“Good answer, husband,” said Annie, also ignoring the rush of excitement from calling Jeff her husband. 

“So when does she get here?”

“Uh, about six hours.”

“Six hours?!? That’s hardly any time to get things ready! Okay, we need to go to my apartment, grab some things to make it look like I live with you. Also, get Abed to bring the DVD and the pictures. I also need to know everything about your mom that a daughter-in-law would know. Oh God, I don’t even know her name! Okay, you can tell me everything in the car on the way to my apartment.”

“Annie, we both drove here separately, and I’m not leaving my car here.”

“Fine, we meet at my apartment and then we drive to your place. Should we have both cars at your apartment? We wouldn’t drive to Greendale together to keep up the ruse.”

As Annie started walking out the door to go to her car, still talking through all the details, Jeff smiled after her. Annie’s attention to detail would definitely make sure this would be a success. He only had to make sure she didn’t find out he was actually in love with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie and Jeff prepare to be fake married. Can they pull it off? Maybe, maybe not, but maybe the real fake marriage was the real feelings we discovered along the way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this chapter garbage? Yes, but it's plot garbage that needs to happen to move the story along.

After getting everything Annie thought they needed from her apartment, they decided to drive back over to Jeff’s separately. If the rest of the group got suspicious, it could ruin the whole plan. And if the plan was ruined early, that would cut into the time he got to spend with her and hurt his mom. At least he knew Annie was taking this seriously. He really was grateful for her drive and dedication, but it also reminded him of why he was in love with her. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. He could barely handle watching her plan to pretend to be married to him without wanting to drop to his knee and propose for real.

If only he knew Annie was having the exact same thoughts. Maybe she was taking this a little too seriously, but hey, if this is your only chance to be married to the guy you’re in love with, even if it’s fake, why not go all out? Annie didn’t want to admit it, but she was a little excited. Logically, she knew this was going to end and that everything would go back to the way it was. But, until then, she could play house and pretend that this was actually her life. As they met up outside of Jeff’s building and started unloading both of their cars, Jeff pulled a spare key out of his pocket. 

“Since we live together, you should probably have a key.”

“Good idea. It would be weird if your wife didn’t have a key to the apartment.”

Jeff handed Annie the key which she attached to her keys, before bending down to pick up a box. Jeff groaned in annoyance as he picked up another one.

“Annie, I really admire the dedication, but was two cars worth of stuff really necessary?”

“Yes! And we better hurry because we only have about four and a half hours before she’s here!”

Jeff sighed but didn’t say anything as he and Annie started taking up the first round of boxes. He really didn’t mind that Annie cared so much, but this was a lot more work than he thought it would be, which he hated, but at least it was for a good cause. After they brought up all the boxes, they discussed where everything was gonna go. Three hours and many arguments about where things go later, they’d finally gotten everything settled. They plopped down on the couch, and Jeff glanced at his phone.

“So, we have an hour and a half to kill before my mom gets here. What do you wanna do?”

“Maybe we should practice being a couple. Like, you know, touching, holding hands...kissing?”

“You want to practice kissing?” Jeff asked, raising an eyebrow and trying not to sound like he wanted to. God, she really was going to be the death of him.

“I mean-it’s not like we haven’t kissed before! It’s just that the circumstances were different! And I only want to so it doesn’t seem weird when your mom gets here! But maybe we should start with something easier. Maybe holding hands?” Annie quickly replied.

“I mean, only if you think it’s a good idea,” Jeff said, as nonchalantly as he could.

“Well, we have to do it eventually. Better to be prepared,” Annie said, nervously.

“Okay, so...let’s do this,” Jeff said, slipping his hand into Annie’s.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, avoiding eye contact, both pretending that they weren’t enjoying it. After all, this was all fake to the other person with no real feelings involved. Jeff looked at Annie, only to find she was staring back at him. God, she really was gorgeous. Jeff really wanted to kiss her, and why shouldn’t he? After all, they were married. Jeff leaned in, and Annie mirrored the movement. As they got closer, Jeff let go of her hand and moved it to her cheek. As he was about to kiss her, he started doubting this decision. Maybe he should have asked Britta. He could have bribed her with another cat or something. There would have been no feelings involved, and it would be so much easier to move on afterwards. Jeff wasn’t sure how he’d be able to go back to being alone after seeing what it would be like to be with Annie for real. He was about to pull away, when Annie’s lips were suddenly on his. Right, this was why he asked her. Jeff kissed Annie back, moving one hand into her hair and the other to her waist, pulling her closer so that she was almost on his lap. God, he wished he could have this all the time. And if he was being honest with himself, he wanted a lot more than just kissing. Jeff broke the kiss, knowing he would definitely try to take things further if he didn’t stop now. When he pulled away, he could have sworn Annie looked a little disappointed, but that was probably just wishful thinking. They sat for a while, not touching or where to go from there. When Jeff couldn’t handle the silence anymore, he finally spoke up.

“So, I guess we got kissing down. And hand holding. And pretty much every coupley thing falls somewhere in between those two, well at least the ones we’ll be doing, so I think we’re good.”

Jeff might have been able to pretend to be unaffected by the kiss, but Annie was still reeling from what just happened. She had just made out with Jeff in his apartment. This was one of the things she’d wanted for a long time, and it finally happened. Except, now she didn’t know to react.

“I’m gonna get a drink. Do you want a drink?” Annie said, somewhat panicking, as she got up to walk to the kitchen. Jeff followed her with his eyes as she went.

“I’m just so thirsty, and you know, hydration is important or what-” Annie stopped mid-sentence as she opened the fridge and saw it was empty except for a couple beers.

“Jeff, why is your fridge empty?”

“It’s not empty! There should be at least two beers in there!”

“Jeff, that’s basically empty.”

“Okay, so I usually order food or go out. Sue me. But be warned, I was a lawyer. I’d win that lawsuit.”

“Jeff, no married couple has no food in the fridge! How did we overlook this? Also, why do you live like this?”

“I mean, there’s protein shakes in the cabinets.”

“Don’t those need to be refrigerated?”

“Nah, they’re powder. You mix them with water.”

“Jeff! Protein shakes are not substitute for real food! Especially ones that come from powder!”

"Okay, so let’s fix this. Wanna go to the store or something?”

“Yes! Honestly, Jeff, are you committed to this or not?” Annie said, while grabbing her purse.

“Oh, and don’t think this gets you out of a talk about your lifestyle, mister! I’m texting Shirley right now to tell her to mom-shame you.”

“How much money do you want to not text Shirley?” Jeff asked, following her to the door.

Annie, who was already out the door, called out, “Too late! Already done!”

Jeff groaned and followed her out. Sure enough, his phone buzzed a few minutes later with a text from Shirley. What had he gotten himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited arrival of Doreen will happen next chapter. I'd say stay tuned, but I'm very bad at updating so...maybe check back in like a month or something idk. (Also, I finished writing this chapter at 4AM, and it's unbeta'd, so please don't be too mean when commenting)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long-awaited arrival of Doreen has arrived! But can they convince her their marriage is real?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've written, and I'm actually pretty pleased with it.

Once Annie had sufficiently stocked the fridge, and Shirley had stopped chewing him out over the phone for his bad eating habits, the nerves hit Annie like a train. This was really happening. Jeff’s mom would really be here soon. Ever since they got back to the apartment, Annie had been nervously pacing, despite Jeff’s best attempts to calm her down. No matter what he said, she still found something else to freak out about.

“Remind me again why we aren’t going to pick her up? What if she doesn’t like me? Does she know about the adderall thing? What if she hates me ‘because I’m a druggie’? What if she just hates me in general? What if she sees through it right away? What if she thinks I’m too young for you?”

Jeff sighed and sunk into the couch. Annie’s determination when she was doing a task was impressive but also extremely exhausting.

“First of all, this is fake so it doesn’t really matter if she likes you or not. Second, she likes renting a car so she doesn’t have to rely on me for transportation, especially since I have work, and you have classes.” 

Jeff paused, deciding how to phrase his next sentence. He knew the adderall addiction bothered Annie more than she let on.

“And I didn’t tell her about the adderall thing. That’s yours to tell if you want to. I know it was a difficult time for you, and you hardly ever talk about it, so I figured it would just be better to let you tell her. But only if you want to!”, Jeff said, adding on the last part to make sure she didn’t feel like she had to. Sometimes, even he forgot how much she had been through.

For the first time in over thirty minutes, Annie stopped pacing. She smiled at Jeff with tears of gratitude in her eyes.

“Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate that.”

“And, if you do decide to tell her, she won’t hate you. I promise.”

Annie looked down and shifted a little bit.

“I guess that’s still a sensitive spot, given how my mom reacted. It still seems a little weird when people outside of rehab are supportive.”

She looked up and smiled at Jeff.

“But I have great friends, and I need to remember that not everyone is like my family.”

Jeff got up from the couch and went to hug her. 

“Trust me, we would never abandon you. And if it came down to it, I’m sure Shirley could and would kick your mom’s ass. Hell, she scared me out of playing foosball for years.”

“Wait, what?”

“Nothing. The point is: none of us think any less of you because you got hooked on adderall. I actually think it shows how strong you are that you went to rehab and became completely independent at eighteen with no support from anyone. Annie, you’re incredible. Anyone else in the group wouldn’t have been able to do it. You’re stronger than all of us.”

During Jeff’s encouragement, Annie had started crying.

As she was wiping the tears from her eyes, she said, “That was one hell of a Winger speech.”

Jeff pulled out of the hug, put his hands on her shoulders, and looked her in the eyes.

“Well, it was all true. We will always believe in you even when you don’t.”

Before Annie could respond, there was a knock at the door.

Jeff took a deep breath and said, “That’s her. Are you ready?”

Anne swallowed and replied, “As I’ll ever be.”

Jeff went to the door and opened it. Annie followed closely behind him.

“Mom, it’s so good to see you! How have you been?”

“Well, I’ve been doing better. It’s so nice to be in remission!”

Jeff’s mom looked over at Annie, and asked, “Is this your lovely wife?”

Jeff followed his mom’s gaze to Annie, and lovingly replied, “Yeah. That’s my wife.”

Annie reached out her hand, and said, “Hi, Ms. Winger, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

Ignoring Annie’s hand and pulling her into a hug instead, Jeff’s mom replied, “Oh please, call me Doreen. And it’s lovely to meet you as well! I have to say, you’re even more lovely in person! Abed’s video didn’t do you justice!”

Annie blushed. She wasn’t used to mother figures complimenting her or even being nice.

“Thank you Ms. Wi- Doreen. Let me take your suitcase to the guest room, and then you and Jeff can take some time to catch up.”

“Thank you, dear.”

While Annie took Doreen’s suitcase and took it to the guest room, she and Jeff sat on the couch.

“She’s lovely, Jeffie. I’m so glad you found her.”

Jeff smiled in the direction of the guest bedroom.

“So am I.”

As Jeff stared longingly in the direction of the guest bedroom, waiting for Annie, Doreen broke the silence.

“So, this ‘Family Day’ thing. What exactly is it?”

Jeff rolled his eyes and sighed.

“One of our dean’s dumb excuses to hold a dance and break out our mascot, which is terrifying by the way.”

“Oh, the human being? Yeah, it’s horrifying,” Annie said as she came back into the room and sat on the couch next to Jeff, putting her head on his shoulder and grabbing his hand. Pretending to be married definitely had its perks.

“I’m sorry...your mascot is a human being?” Doreen asked, feeling like she misheard.

“Yeah. Because ‘a lot of our students already feel like they’re animals’. And then, they had to make it this awful gray color to ‘not be racist’. It would almost be better to not have a mascot,” Jeff explained.

“And the costume makes it hard for the person inside to see or hear. And usually on Family Day, there’s more than one. No matter how many times I ask the dean to not have the mascot at Family Day, he always says ‘But Annie, it’s a part of the school!’ and won’t budge. At least I was able to talk him out of setting fireworks in the cafeteria,” Annie added on with a shrug.

Doreen stared at them in shock, wondering how this was so normal to them.

“Does your dean usually try to set off fireworks in the cafeteria?”

“Well, no but it’s definitely in character for him. There will be a glitter cannon though, so be prepared for that. I had to compromise because I said we couldn’t have a paintball war even though it was, and I quote, ‘an honored Greendale tradition’, and he said he insisted on either that or a glitter cannon. So, I figured the glitter cannon was less likely to get someone hurt. Can you imagine Troy’s grandma with a paintball gun? Or worse, getting shot?”

“Actually, I’ve seen Troy’s grandma in action. She’d win, but I see your point.”

“Wait, when did you meet Troy’s grandma?”

“Walked in on her beating Britta’s ass with a stick the last Family Day she was here. Literally, her bare ass. Not a woman you want to mess with,” Jeff explained.

Doreen sat in stunned silence before eventually saying, “Wow, Jeffie. I have to admit, when you told me about some of the things that happened at your school, I thought you were exaggerating or even lying. I can see now why you refer to your school as ‘a school-shaped toilet’.”

“Well, you’ll get to see it in all its glory tomorrow. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Annie, is Chang gonna be there?”

“Unfortunately. His ankle monitor is set to the school remember? So, even if I wanted to get rid of him, I can’t.”

“Damn. On the one hand, I hope you don’t meet him. On the other, he’s even crazier than the dean.”

“I’m sorry, who is Chang?” Doreen asked.

“The one who tried to take over the school and turn it into a dictatorship,” Anne replied.

“Jeffrey, why did you go to this school? And why are you still teaching there?”

Jeff shrugged and said, “I thought I was taking the easy way out.”

“Oh, Jeffrey,” Doreen replied, disappointment in her eyes. Jeff looked over at Annie and wondered what she would tell him to do if his mom wasn’t sitting right there. He didn’t have to wonder very hard to know she would tell him to come clean about everything. And even if she wasn’t really in love with him, he wanted her to at least be proud of him.

“Yeah, also about my career and everything. I haven’t exactly been honest with you, and well, might as well come clean now.”

While Jeff was telling his mom the truth about faking a degree, getting disbarred, and coming to Greendale, Annie’s phone rang, and she excused herself to Jeff’s room to answer it.

“Hey, Britta, what’s up?”

“Annie, you have to get to the school!”

“What? Why?”

“The dean is sneaking fireworks into the cafeteria!”

“Are you sure they’re fireworks, Britta?”

“Annie, I was an anarchist. I know what fireworks look like.”   
“Do anarchists even use fireworks?”

“Annie, just get down here!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll be right there. Why are you even at the school right now anyway?”

“Um, just, y’know, taking a walk. Getting some fresh air.”

“You’re smoking pot, aren’t you?”

“What are you, a cop? You gonna deal with the dean or not?”

“Yes, I’ll be right there. Bye, Britta.”

“Bye, Annie.”

Annie hung up the phone and walked back into the living room to grab her purse and keys.

Jeff interrupted the conversation with his mom to ask, “Babe, where are you going?”

Ignoring the fact that hearing Jeff call her babe made her feel like the eighteen year old with the horrible crush she used to be, she answered calmly, “The dean is apparently bringing fireworks into the cafeteria, so I have to deal with that.”

“I thought you said you talked him out of it.”

“I  _ thought  _ I did, but I guess not, which is why I have to go down there. I’ll won’t be gone long. Two hours tops. Besides, you and your mom are having an important conversation, so some alone time will be good for you.”

Jeff stood up from the couch pulled her into a short kiss before saying, “Alright, but just be careful, okay? The dean plus fireworks is a  _ bad  _ combination.”

Annie shrugged and said, “I’ll be fine. I just have to go yell at him and give him the angry face, and he’ll give in. Maybe I’ll let Chang set them off in an empty parking lot just to make sure the dean doesn’t try to use them tomorrow. Bye, hon!”

Annie pecked him on the lips before walking out the door. After she closed it, she let herself react to what had just happened. She and Jeff had kissed. Twice!  _ And _ cuddled on the couch! SHe was kinda glad she had an excuse to leave so she could process everything. Sure, this would be over soon, but damn, if it wasn’t worth it.

After Annie left and their heart to heart had ended, Doreen started to ask more about Annie.

“She really is a force of nature, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is. Initially, it was one of the things I hated about her, but now it’s one of things I love about her the most.”

“She seems great. How did she end up at Greendale? She seems too driven to have just wanted to take the easy way out.”

“Uh, it’d be better to let her tell you. Some...bad things happened in high school, and it’s not my place to say.”

“Got it. So it would be better to just not bring it up at all?”

“Yeah, probably.”

Doreen got up from the couch and yawned.

“I’m super tired, so I’m gonna hit the hay. I’ll see you and Annie tomorrow morning. Good night, Jeffie.”

“Night, mom.”

Doreen went to the guest room and plugged in her her phone when she saw she had a text.

 

**From: Abed**

How did day one go?

**To: Abed**

They’re selling it really well. I honestly wouldn’t have known

if it hadn’t been for the bad quality of the video. I’m actually

a little offended Jeff thought I would believe it. Remind me 

again why I’m doing this and not just confronting him?

 

**From: Abed**

You said you wanted to teach Jeff a lesson about lying. 

And besides, this is the only way to get them to

confront their feelings for each other. Why do you 

think I purposely made a bad video?

 

**To: Abed**

The lying seems a little bit unnecessary. And Annie 

seems like a nice girl. I feel bad about lying to her.

 

**From: Abed**

Maybe it is. But it’s also much more interesting and will work faster.  

And she agreed to the lie as well. Trust me, this has been a long time 

coming. They need a push to finally come clean, and this will work.   

It’s like in FRIENDS when Rachel and Phoebe know Monica and           

Chandler are dating, and they use that to get them to come clean.      

 

**To: Abed:**

Well, I guess it is time he learned his lesson.

He does lie a lot. He actually came clean about a 

bunch of stuff earlier that I actually didn’t know. 

But what if this backfires, and it drives them apart?

Or Annie thinks I hate her? From what I’ve heard,

her relationship with her own mom isn’t great, and

I’d hate to contribute to her mother issues.

 

**From: Abed**

That’s a valid concern, but if you just talk to her, she’ll

be fine. Honestly, she’ll probably understand why you 

did it. Jeff isn’t exactly known for honesty, and she’s   

done the exact same thing you’re doing to teach him  

a lesson.                                                                      

 

**To: Abed**

Alright, so when  _ do  _ we confront him about it?

 

**From: Abed**

At some point, the lie will come crashing down, and

he’ll be forced to come clean. That’s when we         

confront him, and then, hopefully, they both realize

the other’s feelings are real.                                    

 

**To: Abed**

Okay, fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, Abed.

 

**From: Abed**

See you tomorrow, Doreen.

 

In the living room, Jeff was trying to process everything. He’d just come clean to his mom about, well, not everything, but most of his lies. He hated seeing her disappointed, but he had assured her he was doing much better now, and she loved Annie, which was perfect. He went to go get ready for bed but shot Annie a quick text first.

**To: Annie**

Conversation with my mom went great! She definitely

believed us.

 

**From: Annie**

Great! I’ll be back in about 45 minutes. When 

I get back, wanna discuss the game plan for 

tomorrow?                                                    

 

**To: Annie**

Sounds good. See you then.

 

After Jeff finished getting ready, he climbed into bed to wait for Annie when he realized, “ _Oh_ _shit, we’re sharing the bed_.” Well, he’d discuss it with Annie when she got back. They’d probably just agree to stay on opposite sides, and his bed was big enough for that, even though he didn’t really want to. During his debate with himself on how to approach the subject, Annie walked in the room.

“Hey, Jeff,” Annie said, trying to ignore the fact that Jeff apparently didn’t sleep with a shirt on.

“Hey, how’d it go with the dean?”

“Oh, you know. He resisted, there were some tears, I got Chang to help me with the promise of being to set off fireworks. So, business as usual. I’m gonna get ready for bed, and then we can talk about tomorrow.”

Annie grabbed her pjs from the drawer she put them in and walked into the bathroom when Jeff called out, “So, for sleeping, do you just wanna stay on opposite sides of the bed? It’s big enough that we wouldn’t even bump each other.”

Annie called back, “Sounds good,” before walking back out of the bathroom in her purple Disney pajamas. Jeff didn’t know how she could possibly make those look sexy, but she did.

“Anyway, I was thinking for tomorrow, since I’m running everything, it would make sense if I’m not around you that much. I mean, I know she knows that the others don’t know, but this gives an  _ legitimate  _ reason to avoid being around you,” Annie reasoned as she climbed into the bed.

“Okay, but I think we should dance at least once during the dance. Our friends will think it’s a friend thing, I can dance with Shirley too, and my mom will think it’s a married couple trying to find a moment to be a married couple without raising suspicion.”

“Sounds like a good plan. We should probably get some sleep before tomorrow. You wanna hit the light?”

Jeff turned off the light, and they scooted to opposite sides of the bed, both wishing they were much closer together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we all know what the next chapter's gonna be. They're gonna wake up cuddling and freak out and pretend to be asleep until the other wakes up. Would it really be a fake dating/marriage fic if they didn't?
> 
> And honestly, Idk where the idea for Doreen knowing it was fake the whole time came from, but I'm living for it. Like mother, like son, I guess.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr:
> 
> @icantcountthereasonsishouldstay


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